SCHOOL DAYS.

Schooldays positively influenced my life. Gratefully I remember the admirable teachers with their excellent training in reading, grammar, innumerable spelling tests, writing, arithmetic, sing-song tables and mental additions.

My Grade 7 teacher fired my love for writing when she set us an essay ’The autobiography of a camel at the zoo.’ My 11-year old head swelled with childish pride when she commended me as the only student who had not killed the camel. Looking back, I realised God’s hand was on my young life.

Each morning we assembled to honour our country, and salute the flag, solemnly promising, with hand over heart, to honour the King, and obey the laws of our land.

It was a special time for us children.

Special days always brought excitement, like Arbour Day, when we planted trees.

Wattle day followed, when we overloaded the classroom (and probably overpowered the teacher) with armsful of heavily scented, allergy-creating, fluffy, golden wattle. And on Fridays we coveted the honour of emptying and washing the inkwells and flower vases, before sports’ hour.

On one memorable occasion, we paid four cents for the forty-minute train ride to Adelaide, and five cents entry to West’s theatre. We sat in awe at the exquisite slides and movies of Sir Douglas Mawson’s expedition to the Antarctic, depicting the beauty of the snow, the glaciers, ice floes, penguins, sled dogs, ice-bound ships, and even the Spartan huts.

When I entered Grade 4, I became a monitor to help the Grade 3 teacher, Miss Nancy Fitch. She exemplified godly virtues, like my mother, and I admired her because of her kind, caring character.

Thirty years later when we prepared for East Java, we needed lessons for four of our children. So it seemed God’s goodness that Nancy Fitch was then the principal of the Australian Correspondence School. Her kindness extended to our children through her many encouraging letters, gifts and birthday cards, together with lesson corrections, and assessments.

I appreciate how Miss fisher introduced ‘Anne of Green Gables’ when she read a chapter each Friday afternoon before dismissing us for an hour of netball, rounders, skippy, or hopscotch. We listened with wrapt attention as she made Anne real to us, and I still read that series annually. From Miss Fisher’s example, I realised the value of reading to children, and that spilled over into our own family life.

One teacher taught me to knit and I began with a 20 stitch face washer, which ended in a lopsided 40 stitches, followed by a jumper of horrible brown and gaudy orange but knitting is still my favourite hobby 70 years later.

Penny (one cent) concerts in aid of Red Cross enlivened each term. As we sat on mats on the assembly hall, confident and less confident children entertained with soulful recitations, two-fingered piano solos, Scottish reels, solos (mostly off-key) and raspy violin recitations. But we loved it, and responded with loud clapping as we enjoyed the wholesome fun.

The highlight of our grade 7 year arrived with the annual Thousand Voice choir, when children from Adelaide schools sang in the old exhibition building. The girls in white, the boys in navy, proudly stepped precisely up the specially-constructed stairs, and marched into our creaky, wooden plank seats, to open the concert with a hymn of Creation, to the baton of S A Music legend, Frank Gratton.

I walked two miles each way to school, including a street where quince trees grew. The kind owner allowed us children to pick quinces which overhung the fence, and we chewed into the juicy, sour fruit on the long walk home on a hot day. Such fun.

Yes, I thank God for the discipline of schooldays, for an excellent education, and all the enjoyable, happy memories of primary school days.